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DETROIT -- Don't expect Ken Holland to shed any tears into the stained Detroit River over the nagging injury woes of Eric Lindros, Ken Klee or any of the other banged-up Maple Leafs.

Heading into his team's exhibition tilt against Toronto tonight at Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings general manager has enough of his own walking wounded to worry about.

Captain Steve Yzerman, sidelined with a groin ailment, might be sidelined for the Wings' season opener against the St. Louis Blues next Wednesday, Holland revealed yesterday. While Yzerman's status will be better defined when he attempts to resume skating on Monday, the Wings will err on the side of caution when it comes to the future Hall of Famer.

Goaltender Chris Osgood, brought back to Motown to fight for the starter's role, suffered a groin injury during the team's training camp in picturesque Traverse City, Mich., and could miss another two weeks, leaving Manny Legace with the No. 1 job for now.

After playing second and, at times, third fiddle to the likes of Dominik Hasek and Curtis Joseph the past few years, Legace welcomes the challenge.

"At least they didn't bring in some $9-million US goalie in here again in the off-season," said Legace, who grew up in the Beaches area of Toronto. "I think the days of throwing money around at goalies is over in this dressing room because of the (salary cap) of the new CBA."

Meanwhile impressive defenceman Niklas Kronwall, brother of Leafs prospect Staffan Kronwall, will have the ligament damage in his left knee re-examined today. He is hoping to miss just six weeks and not the entire season, as some have predicted.